


Where the Love Goes

by headofmarimo



Category: Persona 5
Genre: And Akira's still a gay mess, Bisexuality, First Kiss, Fluff, In which Ryuji discovers he's not as straight as he thought he was, Let Akira kiss the good boy please, Love Confessions, M/M, Morgana's like a doting mother, So Atlus where that romance route at hmmm?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-28
Updated: 2017-11-28
Packaged: 2019-02-08 03:02:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12855333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/headofmarimo/pseuds/headofmarimo
Summary: Ryuji gains his freedom.Or rather, my rendition of how the start of a romance route with Ryuji would go.





	Where the Love Goes

**Author's Note:**

> (Hey guys!  
> Soooooo, this was initially intended to be just a short little drabble, but then one thing led to another and, well... here we are ^-^'. Anyways, here's what I thought a confession to Ryuji would be like...  
> Hope you guys enjoy reading!)

As soon as Ryuji arrived home the blond trudged to his room and collapsed onto the bed; he tightly clutched the sides of his pillow and buried his face into it, allowing a muffled groan to escape from his lips.

What the eff just happened?

Ryuji took a moment to calm himself in the dark space created by his closed eyes and the obstructing pillow; his memories started to relay through his mind like they were running a marathon race:

He had invited Akira to hang out with him today. There were some things he had wanted to tell the other boy while they were training together, stuff like how the issues between him and the track team were being sorted out. Akira had stood by his side, listening, and as Ryuji continued to talk he became more and more aware of the reason why he could stand there chatting with a smile on his face to begin with.

He tried to convey his gratitude through words, to express how the reason he could feel as free as he did now was because Akira had stayed by his side, but it only seemed to confuse the other boy.

“I don’t get it.” replied Akira while he gazed with a catlike curiosity at him.

“Ah jeez,” Ryuji rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, trying to think of the best example to use that might help the other boy understand. “I guess being free…it’s like how I feel when I’m talking to you man.”

Akira was silent for a few moments, still staring inquisitively at Ryuji, and then a small smile appeared on his face before he finally responded. “Me too, Ryuji.”

Ryuji grinned at him, elation swelling in his chest. “Heh, thanks!” It was nice to know that his leader felt the same way around him.

Then Akira had said something that completely shocked him.

The other boy took a step closer to the blond, but his eyes were diverted and his face looked flushed despite the fact that they had already stopped training for a while.

“More than free, too, actually…” he mumbled.

Ryuji’s eyes widened. “Huh?” It wasn’t like Akira to suddenly lose confidence.

“Ryuji, I guess you could say I also have some…strong feelings towards you.” Akira laughed nervously. “So, what I’m trying to say is along with feeling free besides you I also… like you?”   

Ryuji could hardly believe his ears. “U-um, oh. I mean I hope you would! It’d be kinda awkward if we were bros and hated each other, y’know?” he spluttered and gave a nervous laugh of his own.

Akira’s expression suddenly turned serious. “Ryuji… we both know that’s not what I meant.”

“I… well…o-oh.”

The atmosphere between them grew silent again. Ryuji stood there while Akira’s gaze seemed to burn right through him, his stomach churning and his heart pounding. Finally, the blond took a step back and turned away.

“I, um, I have to go.”

“Ryuji—”

“I’ll see you later Akira.”

He walked away, and as soon as he was out of the school Ryuji ran and didn’t stop running until he reached the train station.

Akira didn’t follow him.

* * *

 

Ryuji let out another groan of frustration while the memories caused his ears to burn. Stupid! How could he have just done that to Akira? Still, how else could he have reacted? It had caught him so off-guard; Akira, his best friend, someone who he admired and loved hanging out with and always wanted to be around…

 _I like you_.

“Damn it!”

He threw the pillow across the room.

* * *

 

When Ryuji came to he was lying face down on the mattress in the dead of night with his legs feeling sore as hell.

“Eff,” he groaned. The fatigue from running so hard must have caused him to doze off.

He reached down for his cellphone, and the feeling of soft fabric brushing against him told the blond that a blanket had been tucked over him; glancing to the side Ryuji could also see that the pillow he had thrown was placed neatly beside his head as well. His mom had come into his room at one point.

He needed to thank her later.

Ryuji stretched out his legs before pushing himself up into a sitting position, the blanket sliding off his shoulders. He dug for his cellphone again in the pocket of his gym shorts (he tried not to think about all the dried sweat still clinging to his body) and checked for the time.

Holy shit, he’d been out for _how long_?

Ryuji cursed at how he had allowed the rest of the day to slip by when he noticed a message notification blinking at him from the cellphone screen:

**Akira: Hey.**

**Akira: I want to apologize for earlier. Please just forget what I said.**

Ryuji sighed as he stared at the messages glaring out from the screen.

But how could anyone just forget something like that?

It wasn’t that Ryuji was disgusted by it; he was well aware that guys could be into other guys, and if Akira just so happened to be one of them it didn’t change the fact that he was still Akira, his best friend who had stuck with him through thick and thin.

He had just always considered himself as only being into girls, although he did find Akira really pretty sometimes: the long eyelashes, the curls of his black hair, the smirk that Akira sometimes made that sent shivers down Ryuji’s spine for a reason completely different from fear…

Wait.

No, there was no way he found Akira attractive in _that_ kind of way.

Right?

Okay, so admittedly Akira was a pretty attractive-looking dude, but so was Yusuke, big deal.

But still, he had never stared at Yusuke for no particular reason, never found himself trailing his gaze down whenever the other boy wasn’t looking from those soft gray eyes hidden beneath black-framed glasses down to the gentle curve of his lips—

God damn it Akira.

Ryuji unlocked his phone and typed out a message:

**Ryuji: Hey, I’m coming over first thing in the morning**

**Ryuji: We need to talk this out**

He sent the message knowing that Akira most likely wasn’t going to respond or even see it until morning given the ungodly hour that it was, but a heads up was probably still polite.

Ryuji slid out of bed to change into a fresh pair of clothes for sleeping, grimacing while he peeled his gym clothes off. He would take a shower before he headed to Akira’s.

He collapsed onto the bed again, anxiety still gnawing at his stomach until drowsiness eventually overrode all of his senses and he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

 

Akira had been awake when the message appeared on his phone.

Despite Morgana’s constant insistence on going to sleep, Akira couldn’t seem to force himself into unconsciousness. The mattress creaked beneath him as he tossed and turned, until finally Morgana grew so annoyed by his movements that the feline leapt off the bed and migrated to the couch.

Why on earth did he think it was a good idea to confess to Ryuji?

The blond had even made it explicitly clear that he was interested in girls, but for whatever reason Akira had still clung on to a small, unfeasible glimmer of hope that maybe there was still a chance.

And now he was paying the price.

The image still haunted him; Ryuji, his back turned against him, refusing to look him in the eye as he walked away…

He should’ve just left things the way they were.

Akira was lying in bed, his eyes straining from lack of rest but refusing to properly shut. Finally, just when his eyelids were heavy enough for him to drift off the chime of his cellphone snapped him awake again.

“Argh… who’s texting you this late at night?” mumbled Morgana from across the room.

Akira reached for his cellphone to read the message, the brightness of the screen almost blinding in the dark room.

After he finished reading Akira distantly wondered if turning himself into the police would be a better alternative than having to be confronted by Ryuji.

Needless to say, he didn’t get much sleep that night.

* * *

 

Akira walked down the stairs like a prisoner heading to the gallows. When he reached the bottom the first thing he saw was Sojiro staring at him with an unreadable expression on his face.

“Good morning, Boss.”

“Morning. Your uh… friend’s here.” remarked the barista.

Sure enough, Ryuji was a little ways ahead sitting in one of the booths. The blond had placed both hands on the table, his fingers laced together in a tight lock, and his leg was shaking at such a frenzied tempo that it was causing the seat beneath him to tremble.

“If you guys are just going to hang out, then I’ll excuse myself and roam around for a while.” announced Morgana before leaping out of Akira’s bag and heading towards the door.

Sojiro noticed Morgana’s indication of wanting to leave and walked over to open the door for the cat, who slipped out of sight once the opening appeared.

Morgana was gone; they had lost their last reason to hold anything back.

“H-hey,” stammered Akira, a forced grin plastered on his face in an attempt to keep the atmosphere casual even though it was clearly anything but.

“Hey, Akira…” murmured Ryuji as he dragged himself out of the booth; he walked towards Akira and paused to stand directly in front of the other boy. Ryuji hesitated and opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but then shut it again before walking straight past Akira and marching up the stairs.

“We should go upstairs if we wanna talk some more.”

“Yeah, sure.”

Sojiro was still staring at him, and something about his expression now said something along the lines of _good luck, kid_ to Akira.

It was at least slightly reassuring.

He turned away and followed Ryuji up the stairs.

* * *

 

By the time he arrived Ryuji was already slumped against the frame (which was really a bunch of cardboard boxes placed together) of the bed on the floor, waiting for him. Akira seated himself on the stool of his workbench a good comfortable distance away.

An eternity of complete silence seemed to pass by, and finally Akira couldn’t take it anymore and decided to speak up:

“Ryuji…about yesterday, I really am sorry. It was stupid and selfish of me to put that kind of pressure on you, and if it’s alright with you I just want to go back to the way things were before and forget any of that ever happened. I mean,”Akira gripped tightly onto the sleeve of his jacket. “you even made it pretty obvious you don’t swing that way either.”

Ryuji sighed and ran a hand through his hair, mussing up the blond spikes. “Dude, it’s not that. When you said what you did I wasn’t angry or upset or anything I was just…startled.” He turned his head to the side so that his face was hidden from Akira’s view. “Learning that you felt that way about me, I guess it kinda made me realize something too…” Ryuji took a deep breath, and Akira could see that the tips of his ears were red. “The more I got to know you, the more I got to see how much of an awesome person you are.” he mumbled. “Cool, dependable, and the best damn friend a dude could ever ask for. So last night I thought it over and I guess what I realized is… well, I’d be a damn liar if I said I didn’t feel the same way about you, too.”

Akira thought his heart was going to leap out of his throat.

“Ryuji… do you mean it?”

“Yeah, I really think I do. It took me a while to realize, but I guess I’m not as indifferent to guys as I thought I was, or at least to one particular guy.”

Ryuji turned his face towards him, and Akira could see the dark blush on the blond’s cheeks. “D-don’t take it the wrong way, though! I still think girls are attractive, but, uh… I don’t know, I guess this means I like both too?”

Akira couldn’t help but chuckle. Some of the crushing tension seemed to have lifted from his shoulders. He pushed himself off the couch and took a seat besides Ryuji, causing the blush on the other boy’s face to darken even more.

“I’m glad that you were able to figure yourself out.” beamed Akira.

“Yeah well, I admit, it wasn’t easy. Might’ve had to talk with my mom about it before coming here too.”

“What’d she say?”

“Said she would drag me to the café herself to get me to talk to you if I decided to chicken out, so at that point I knew there was no going back.”

Akira couldn’t help but laugh.

“She sounds like a wonderful woman, your mom.” remarked Akira with sincerity.

“Yeah, she really is. Best mom I could ask for.  I-I would’ve come here anyways even if she hadn’t threatened me though!”

“I know you would.”

Akira smiled, a surge of exhilaration running through him as he dared to brush his hand over Ryuji’s. “In fact, that’s one of the many things I like about you.”

“Y-yeah?”  stammered Ryuji

“Yeah,” he placed his hand on top of the other boy’s, and he felt Ryuji stiffen under his touch before relaxing again. The blond didn’t pull away.

“You said there were a lot of things you liked about me, but there’s a whole bunch I admire about you, too.” he continued. “For instance, once you’ve made up your mind, you don’t let anything get in your way. You persevere regardless of the obstacle because of your heartfelt determination to do the right thing.”

“Hehe, thanks. Anything else?” joked Ryuji, a bashful smile appearing on his face from Akira’s praise. His smile was practically radiant, and the familiar comfortableness that the two felt around each other returned as they continued to banter.

“Besides also being really cute?” teased Akira.

“Ah hell man, don’t call me something so lame!” protested Ryuji.

Akira couldn’t restrain his chuckles. “Sorry, would you prefer ‘handsome’ instead?”

“Akira!”

Ryuji glared at the other boy, flustered, as Akira continued to laugh; eventually Ryuji couldn’t help but crack a smile and let a chuckle break through as well.

When the laughter subsided Ryuji felt the grip on his hand tighten and the soft locks of Akira’s hair brush against him as the other boy placed his head on his shoulder. Ryuji couldn’t help but gulp while his heart felt like it would beat right out of his chest.

“You really are amazing Ryuji.” murmured Akira. “I’m so glad I met you.”

“Akira…”

Ryuji felt like crying. It was almost too perfect. Akira pressed against him, holding his hand. His best friend, of all people—no, it wasn’t just as friends anymore: it was something even more now, something that just made Ryuji want to, if he dared, reach out to the other boy, let loose all of his emotions, and… and…

Ah, eff it.

He pinned Akira against the bedframe with his free hand, the fingers on his other hand moving to entwine with Akira’s.

“Ryuji, wha—” spluttered Akira as his back collided against the bed.

“Don’t say a damn word,” muttered Ryuji. He leaned forward and hastily crashed his lips against Akira’s.

Akira immediately stopped talking, his mind freezing up while he tried to register what was happening, then started to kiss back.

The first thing Ryuji thought was that Akira’s lips were soft. Warm, too. He had never kissed anyone before, so he was definitely being a bit too messy and rough, but his mind was completely overloaded with the fact that it just felt _good_ to be kissing him. A few moments of pure bliss, of forgetting the reasons he used to have to keep himself from falling for the boy right in front of him and _why hadn’t he done this sooner—_

Whatever lingering doubts he still had instantly melted away; he had made a vow to continue pursuing his own truth, and that truth now was that he was in love with the boy named Akira Kurusu.

About a minute of kissing and Ryuji finally had enough sense to pull himself away.

“Ah, s-sorry. I didn’t mean to jump you like that.” mumbled Ryuji.

Akira didn’t seem to hear him; his face had a dreamy expression on his face that indicated he was still somewhere else. “Why’d you stop?”

“H-huh?”

Akira leaned forward so that their foreheads were pressed together, their lips close enough to almost touch again.

“I’ve waited a long time for this Ryuji. Just that little amount kissing isn’t going to be enough for me.” he deadpanned.

“S-so, like you actually wanna… make out?” stammered Ryuji. His face was burning hot again.

“Only if you want to.”

It didn’t take long for Ryuji to make a decision. “Hell yeah I do!” exclaimed the blond a little too loudly.

Akira laughed. He swiftly kissed Ryuji again before removing his hand from the other boy’s so that he could use both hands to gently push him onto the floor. Ryuji stared up at him expectantly from their position, his flushed face splitting into an affectionate grin that made Akira momentarily forget how to breathe.

Akira thought that his heart was going to burst and decided that he couldn’t take it anymore.

“Ryuji,”

“What’s up, Akira?”

“…I love you.”

The blond’s eyes widened and the smile slipped off his face; he turned his head to the side and Akira heard a sniffle.

“Yeah… I love you too, Akira.” he murmured.

“...Are you crying?”

“Sh-shaddup! ‘m not crying!” snapped the blond as he hastily moved an arm up to wipe his eyes.

Akira gently pried Ryuji’s arm away from his face and moved a hand up to wipe the tears away with his thumb. The other boy made no movement to stop him.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to kill the mood,” muttered Ryuji.

“But you didn’t.”

If anything, Akira just wanted to express his love for him even more.

Akira smirked, sending a shiver through Ryuji, and pinned the other boy’s arm to the floor so that his hand rested beside his head. He laced his fingers with Ryuji’s again to hold the arm in place and lowered himself so that his mouth was level with the other boy’s ear.

“Now then, where were we?” he whispered.

“You tell me, leader.” replied Ryuji. The blond’s ardent spirit had returned and he now wore a sharp-toothed smirk of his own that made Akira weak.

He began where they left off.

* * *

 

About an hour later of making out and Akira was lying on top of Ryuji with his head pressed against his chest. Akira listened to the rhythmic thumping of the other boy’s heart as the two rested there.

“You’re effin heavy, dude.” complained the blond.

“Oh? Is Sakamoto-san not even strong enough to carry his boyfriend?” teased Akira.

“What was that?!”

Ryuji grabbed on to his back and with a grunt of effort hoisted both of them up into a sitting position.

“Damn, I stand corrected.” commented Akira.

“Heh, these guns aren’t just for show, you know.” asserted Ryuji playfully. His embrace was warm, and Akira found himself pressing more firmly against the blond’s chest as he tried to snuggle in even closer against him.

“So how long would you also be able to hug me like this then?”

“Dude!”

Despite the other boy’s remark Ryuji didn’t withdraw his arms. He nuzzled into the softness of Akira’s hair and continued to hold him.

“So…um… you wanna do something else after this too?” murmured Ryuji.

“Mmm, what did you have in mind?”

“Well, it’s noon now. I was thinking that maybe we could head to the beef bowl shop together and grab some lunch?

“I’d like that.”

After that they spent the rest of the day together, and by the time Akira came back Morgana was sitting on one of the cafe's stools impatiently swishing his tail; Sojiro looked at Akira from behind the counter with a smirk of approval.

“Where have you been? I was worried sick!” yowled Morgana.

Akira tried his best to string together an apology for the displeased cat without revealing all of the details (he was planning to do that at a later time).

They settled on sushi in the end.

**Author's Note:**

> (Blargh it's finally done. XP  
> *Wants to write romance route*  
> *Writes mostly from Ryuji's POV*  
> Honestly I'm not too sure how I feel about this work, but I hope you guys enjoyed it nonetheless!  
> Thanks for reading! :D)


End file.
